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A landmark High Court ruling has paved the way for hundreds of torture victims who were illegally detained by the British government to sue the state for damages.

Asylum seekers who were
forced to flee sexual violence and torture in their home
countries waged a test case against Home Secretary Theresa May
for imprisoning them in immigration detention centers.

The detainment of these asylum seekers was conducted in breach of
UK regulations, which stipulate that torture survivors should not
be detained. Nevertheless, swathes of traumatized torture victims
who were seeking asylum in the UK were incarcerated under the
state’s fast-track (DFT) system.

Justice Blake, who heard the case, ruled in favor of the
claimants. He found they are entitled to seek damages from the
government for illegal detention.

Twenty-one people were awaiting the High Court ruling, but
hundreds more vulnerable refugees who were unlawfully imprisoned
may also now sue for damages.

‘Tortured, disbelieved, locked up’

Lawyer Toufique Hossain, who represented the torture victims,
said the ruling was a landmark victory.

“In these cases, our clients were detained on the fast-track
system. They are torture victims, rape victims, victims of
serious harm,” he said.

“Our clients told the Home Office as best they could of their
trauma through the Home Office’s own internal system, which we
now know clearly didn’t work.”

Hossain’s clients represent many more who were also locked up and
refused asylum. While some of these have been deported back to
their home countries, others remain in detention.

Among the cases heard Friday was that of a Cameroonian gay man
who was physically tortured and abused because of his sexuality.
A doctor’s assessment revealed he had sustained back problems as
a result of the torture. He also had many scars.

The asylum seeker, who is suffering from PostTraumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD), was referred by a doctor for psychiatric
treatment. Despite this, the Home Office rejected a request for
his release and he was kept in a detention center for two weeks.

A lesbian woman from Cameroon, whose case was also heard, also
suffered torture in her home country. She was physically
assaulted, burned with a cigarette and had scars across her groin
area. Despite this, she was illegally detained in the UK for over
a month.

Another asylum seeker’s case heard by the court was a political
exile from Egypt. The man, who was a member of the Muslim
Brotherhood, had been assaulted by prison staff in his home
country. Despite this, he was unlawfully held in a UK immigration
detention center.

Child detainees

Britain’s Court of Appeal has recently suspended the
controversial DFT system. It’s estimated the policy was
responsible for imprisoning thousands of asylum seekers annually
as they fought to stay in Britain.

The High Court ruled the process was unlawful on June 12, but put
a “legal stay” on the decision, meaning the fast-track
system remained in operation until government had exhausted
attempts to appeal. Britain’s Court of Appeal finally quashed
this legal stay on June 26, making the system illegal.

In June, it emerged that vulnerable children who were fleeing
warzones in the Middle East are being wrongly classified as over
18 and jailed in adult detention centers in the UK.

The government had previously outlawed child detention.

The shocking revelation was uncovered by the Bureau of
Investigative Journalism’s Maeve McClenaghan as the result of a
three-month investigation.

A documented 127 minors have been wrongly classified as adults in
UK detention since 2010, although lawyers say this figure could
be the tip of the iceberg. This comes despite ex-Deputy Prime
Minister Nick Clegg pledging an end to child detention in May
2010.